The Volvo Environment Prize is a highly regarded annual scientific award. The prize is awarded to individuals who "explore the way to a sustainable world." The prize is awarded by the Volvo Environment Prize Foundation which was instituted in 1988. [1] Scientific excellence is the most important criterion for becoming a laureate. The candidate must have an outstanding research and publication record in his or her field. Strong emphasis is also placed on the research's impact on the policy and application sectors.
The Volvo Environment Prize recipient receives a "hand-crafted diploma, a glass sculpture and a cash award of SEK 1.5 million (approximately Euro 135,000 or USD 140,000)". [2]
A scientific committee headed by Professor Carl Folke does the initial screening and evaluation of candidates, which are presented to the International prize jury. The prize jury is chaired by Professor Mary Scholes (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) with members Professor Peijun Shi (Beijing Normal University, China), Professor Kazuhiko Takeuchi (University of Tokyo, Japan) Dr. Sybille van den Hove (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain) and Professor Johan Rockström, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. [3]
Since the first award in 1990, the prize has gone to 52 individuals. Among them are many well-known researchers and three scientists who first received the Volvo Environment Prize and later the Nobel Prize. The laureates represent all fields of environmental and sustainability studies and initiatives.
Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez was a Mexican physical chemist. He played a pivotal role in the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, and was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in discovering the threat to the Earth's ozone layer from chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases. He was the first Mexican-born scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the third Mexican-born person to receive a Nobel prize.
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an independent International research institute located in Laxenburg, near Vienna in Austria, founded as an East-West scientific cooperation initiative during the Cold War. Through its research programs and initiatives, the institute conducts policy-oriented interdisciplinary research into issues too large or complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline. These include climate change, energy security, population aging, and sustainable development. The results of IIASA research and the expertise of its researchers are made available to policymakers worldwide to help them make informed and evidence-based policies.
The Earth Institute is a research institute at Columbia University created in 1995 for addressing complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with a focus on sustainable development. With an interdisciplinary approach, this includes research in climate change, geology, global health, economics, management, agriculture, ecosystems, urbanization, energy, hazards, and water. The Earth Institute's activities are guided by the idea that science and technological tools that already exist could be applied to greatly improve conditions for the world's poor, while preserving the natural systems that support life on Earth.
Norman Myers was a British environmentalist specialising in biodiversity and also noted for his work on environmental refugees.
Syukuro "Suki" Manabe is a Japanese–American physicist, meteorologist, and climatologist, who pioneered the use of computers to simulate global climate change and natural climate variations. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi, for his contributions to the physical modeling of Earth's climate, quantifying its variability, and predictions of climate change.
Presented annually since 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is an award that recognizes outstanding achievements in water related activities. Over the past three decades, Stockholm Water Prize Laureates have come from across the world and represented a wide range of professions, disciplines and activities in the field of water.
Brian Harrison Walker is a scientist specialized in ecological sustainability and resilience in socio-ecological systems.
Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity. It was founded in 1971 as Educational Expeditions International by Bob Citron and Clarence Truesdale. Earthwatch Institute supports Ph.D. researchers internationally and conducts over 100,000 hours of research annually using the Citizen Science methodology. Earthwatch's mission statement states that the organization "connects people with scientists worldwide to conduct environmental research and empowers them with the knowledge they need to conserve the planet." As such, it is one of the global underwriters of scientific field research in climate change, archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over fifty years, Earthwatch has raised funds to recruit individuals, students, teachers, and corporate fellows to participate in field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change.
David William Schindler,, was an American/Canadian limnologist. He held the Killam Memorial Chair and was Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. He was notable for "innovative large-scale experiments" on whole lakes at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) which proved that "phosphorus controls the eutrophication in temperate lakes leading to the banning of phosphates in detergents. He was also known for his research on acid rain. In 1989, Schindler moved from the ELA to continue his research at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, with studies into fresh water shortages and the effects of climate disruption on Canada's alpine and northern boreal ecosystems. Schindler's research had earned him numerous national and international awards, including the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal, the First Stockholm Water Prize (1991) the Volvo Environment Prize (1998), and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2006).
Environmental anthropology is a sub-discipline of anthropology that examines the complex relationships between humans and the environments which they inhabit. This takes many shapes and forms, whether it be examining the hunting/gathering patterns of humans tens of thousands of years ago, archaeological investigations of early agriculturalists and their impact on deforestation or soil erosion, or how modern human societies are adapting to climate change and other anthropogenic environmental issues. This sub-field of anthropology developed in the 1960s from cultural ecology as anthropologists borrowed methods and terminology from growing developments in ecology and applied them to understand human cultures.
Johan Rockström is a Swedish scientist, internationally recognized for his work on global sustainability issues. He is joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, together with economist Ottmar Edenhofer. Rockström is also chief scientist at Conservation International. He is Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam and Professor in Water Systems and Global Sustainability, Stockholm University.
The Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment is one of five global institutes at Imperial College London and one of three Grantham-sponsored centres in the UK. The institute was founded in 2007 with a £12m donation from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, an organisation set up by Hannelore and Jeremy Grantham.
The Blue Planet Prize recognises outstanding efforts in scientific research or applications of science that contribute to solving global environmental problems. The prize was created by the Asahi Glass Foundation in 1992, the year of the Rio Earth Summit, and since then the foundation has awarded the prize to two winners every year. In 2012, twenty of the Blue Planet Prize winners collaborated on a joint paper that was launched at the UN Environment Programme's Governing Council meeting in Nairobi on 20 February.
Distinguished Professor David Lindenmayer,, is an Australian scientist and academic. His research focuses on the adoption of nature conservation practices in agricultural production areas, developing ways to improve integration of native forest harvesting and biodiversity conservation, new approaches to enhance biodiversity conservation in plantations, and improved fire management practices in Australia. He specialises in large-scale, long-term research monitoring programs in south-eastern Australia, primarily in forests, reserves, national parks, plantations, and on farm land.
The contributions of women in climate change have received increasing attention in the early 21st century. Feedback from women and the issues faced by women have been described as "imperative" by the United Nations and "critical" by the Population Reference Bureau. A report by the World Health Organization concluded that incorporating gender-based analysis would "provide more effective climate change mitigation and adaptation."
Diana Harrison Wall was an American environmental scientist and soil ecologist. She was the founding director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, a distinguished biology professor, and senior research scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. Wall investigated ecosystem processes, soil biodiversity and ecosystem services. Her research focused on the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys and its Wall Valley was named after her. Wall was a globally recognized leader and speaker on life in Antarctica and climate change.
Malin Fredrika Sofia Sundberg-Falkenmark was a Swedish hydrologist. Falkenmark is best known for her long-standing work and expertise on the sustainable use of water resources to meet human and ecosystem needs. Her work is characterized by an integration of both natural- and social-science approaches. She is particularly known for developing what is now known as the Falkenmark Water Stress Indicator, an indicator used to measure and describe the water available for human use. She was the daughter of Halvar Sundberg.
Osvaldo Sala is an ecologist and educator at Arizona State University, where he is the Julie A. Wrigley, Regents and Foundation Professor and the Founding Director of the Global Drylands Center, as well as founder of the Sala Lab. He is known for his research on how global change affects the functioning of global ecosystems and their biodiversity, with a focus on drylands.
Xuemei Bai (白雪梅) is a professor of Urban Environment and Human Ecology at the Australian National University. She was the winner of the 2018 Volvo Environmental Prize, and is an elected fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Allen Victor Kneese was an American economist. He was a pioneer in what came to be called environmental economics. He worked at Resources for the Future from 1961 onwards. He earned a master's degree from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in 1956 from Indiana University.